The present invention relates to paint rollers, and in particular to a new and improved cleaning device for paint roller pads.
A common tool used in wall painting is the paint roller. Most such rollers include a handle attached to a rotatable cage over which a tubular roller pad is slidably placed. The outside surface of the roller pad is made of fabric or material which becomes saturated with paint while in use.
There are many known methods of cleaning the paint from the roller pad after use ranging from the use of a high pressure water hose to discarding and replacing the roller pad. There are also several different devices used to assist in the roller pad cleanup process including flushing buckets (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,152), flushing tubes (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,230), jet sprayers (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,818,529) and scrapers (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. D-265,940).
The paint roller cover cleaner device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,679 includes an elongated hollow housing that is closed at one end, the inside of which includes a rotatable roller cover holder and a spray tube. However, this apparatus does not provide for complete cleaning of the paint roller, particularly the inside (and ends) thereof; nor does it provide for easy reversal of the spinning direction of the roller cover to improve cleaning while in use.